She wouldn't be grumpy if people weren't so annoying
by OceanAndARock
Summary: It's not unusual for things to make Shaw angry, but Root makes her angry in unfamiliar ways. The "relationship" from Shaw's perspective. (her inverted commas, not mine).
**AN: I thought I might as well share my latest Shoot one shot here, even though there are a lot more people on AO3 reading and writing POI stuff. (I think my Root one shot was probably a bit better, but I don't think this is terrible).**

 **She wouldn't be grumpy if people weren't so annoying**

It is not unusual for things to make Shaw angry, or at least grumpy, it's one of her more common emotions. People trying to make small talk with her, interrupting her meals, wanting to thank her for saving their life, it's all annoying. But Root makes her angry in unfamiliar ways.

 **Flirting**

Root flirts incessantly. No matter whether Shaw is rude, dismissive or just ignores her Root does not stop and she will do it on any occasion. Shaw could be working behind the counter in the department store, or in the middle of a shootout, in either case Root will flirt. Maybe if Shaw hadn't told Root that first time she met her that she kind of enjoys pain then Root would never have got the wrong idea, but she was just trying to wipe that saccharine smile off her face. Or maybe if Shaw hadn't thought that letting Root put those spare zip ties to good use whilst they had time to kill in the CIA safe house (or any of the subsequent times) was a good idea then Root would have stopped pestering her by now.

 **Nerdy Fan Boys**

It's annoying enough that Root flirts with her, the fact she flirts to some extent with just about everyone just make it worse. Shaw may like to think herself immune to Root's charms, but the perky psycho has a gaggle of computer nerds who feel flattered and will do what she asks just because she smiles sweetly at them. They don't know that the smiles they get are only a fraction of the wattage with which Root smiles at Shaw. They don't know how ruthless she is or the vulnerability hidden below her cheery demeanour. Shaw doesn't know why Root it stupid enough to rely on boys who would probably piss themselves if someone pointed a gun in their direction.

 **The Machine**

She will blindly do her robot God's bidding without even knowing why she is being asked to do what she is doing, and she will cheerfully walk into Samaritan server storage facilities without any back-up if that's what the Machine wants. If you ask Shaw the Machine should take more care to look after her Analog Interface, if something happened to Root then the rest of the team would probably lose their direct link to the Machine and be back to the days of it just issuing numbers to Harold. It also bugs Shaw that because of the Machine Root can always find Shaw wherever she is. Whereas Root sometimes disappears for days or weeks at a time following the Machine's instructions, then just reappears with a casual "Did you miss me?" when Shaw has had no idea where she had been and has had no way of finding her. Not that Shaw is likely to want to find Root when she is missing, it's just the inequity of it that bothers her.

 **Sex**

Root is too good at sex, or maybe the two of them are just too compatible. Whatever. Root is really good at finding creative new ways to inflict pain, to tease and torture Shaw, to push her closer to her limits than anyone has before, and Shaw is very much into that. This makes Root irritatingly smug. Also, because the sex is so good Shaw has broken her maximum of three times with one person rule and keeps coming back for more. This has the undesired consequence of increasing Root's feelings for her and for making Root think Shaw is in it for more than the sex. It doesn't help that she hasn't been with anyone else for a while now. Shaw had contemplated sleeping with Tomas and she was pretty sure he would have been open to it, but somehow the thought of Root made her change her mind. Root would have been upset but acted blasé like she didn't care, and the temptation of sex with Tomas was just not appealing enough to be worth the hassle of dealing with Root pretending to be okay. Not when it was easier just go and have sex with Root again instead.

 **Unsolicited Affection**

Root acts like Shaw is her world. She looks adoringly at her; the way Roots smile at Shaw is radiant and it is just wasted on Shaw. Shaw sometimes wonders what it feels like, to feel so strongly about someone the way Root seems to feel about her, but she's just not wired that way. Root is convinced that they are going to be together, no matter how much Shaw tells her otherwise. Root will interpret things Shaw does as meaning she cares, when all Shaw is doing is trying to be nice, or to look out for a teammate in the same way that she would for Reese or Finch. Shaw hates that Root has decided that she is the one, because Shaw doesn't do relationships, she doesn't do feelings and Root is going to get hurt.

 **Root knows her**

The most irritating thing about Root is that she understands Shaw. She understands the way in which Shaw interacts with people; she delights in Shaw's strengths – her combat and shooting abilities and her medical skills – and she doesn't think Shaw's weaknesses are weaknesses. She doesn't need Shaw to be cheerful and warm, she is happy with her blank stares and her general lack of enthusiasm. Root sees Shaw for who she is. It infuriates Shaw that Root knows that she isn't as grumpy as she appears. Root keeps insisting Shaw cares about her and the most annoying thing about that is she is right. Shaw wished she didn't care and she will deny she cares, but she does care. She really doesn't want Root to know that though, because Shaw doesn't care enough. Shaw doesn't care for Root in the way that someone should care for her and it makes Shaw really angry that Root seems happy to settle for less. Shaw is scared that one day she will let her.

 **Note: Thank you for reading, reviews are always appreciated (and acknowledged).**


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